Gove fears EU will play Ulster card

MICHAEL Gove fears the EU will use the issue of the Irish border to ‘hold us hostage’ and prevent Brexit.

The Environment Secretary warns that European negotiators will reject all solutions to the problem to keep the UK in the single market and customs union.

He raised concerns that Britain may not be able to secure a customs deal with Brussels before Brexit, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Speaking at a private dinner with Tory eurosceptics, Mr Gove said EU negotiators would use the Irish border as a ‘backstop’.

He warned it could be used as a ‘Trojan Horse’ during trade deal negotiations in the 1-month transition period to keep Britain in the customs union indefinitely. A source told the paper that Mr Gove was concerned that if Britain accepted the backstop option, ‘we won’t have all the negotiating cards that we would want to have in that transition period’.

The backstop option tabled by the EU involves Northern Ireland remaining in ‘full alignment’ with the rules of the customs union and single market to avoid a hard border if the UK and Brussels fail to agree a customs arrangement.

The Prime Minister has been clear that leaving the single market and customs union is a red line in her Brexit negotiations. But the EU says she needs to show she can reconcile this position without imposing a hard border on Northern Ireland, or a goods border in the Irish Sea.